Fiserv, Inc. Reports Strong Spending Thanksgiving Weekend

December 8, 2024  by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Industry   

The comprehensive analysis, which is derived from nearly 800 million transactions across millions of U.S. business locations, looks at consumer spending during the six-day period spanning November 27 through December 2. The 2024 Thanksgiving Holiday Insights report details shopping patterns across total retail, small business and payment types, and on popular holiday shopping dates, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

“With the holiday week occurring later in the year in 2024, consumers feeling the crunch of a shortened shopping season spent feverishly to produce one of the strongest holiday spending weeks on record,” said Prasanna Dhore, chief data officer at Fiserv. “The result was a big week, especially for small businesses, which saw holiday shoppers drive substantial sales growth throughout the week, including significant gains on Cyber Monday.”

Total Retail

SpendTrend® same-store sales data, measuring commerce activity across large, mid-sized, and small retailers, showed that total retail sales were up (+5.7%) compared to the same period in 2023. This overall growth was heavily influenced by increased transactions (+6.7%). Average tickets were essentially flat (-0.9%).

On Black Friday, total retail sales increased (+3.0%). Stronger growth followed on the Saturday after Thanksgiving (+6.7%) and Cyber Monday (+4.0%).

Brick-and-mortar purchases accounted for 58% of all retail sales, with sales up (+4.6%) and transactions growing (+3.0%). This in-store resurgence is a positive shift after previous years of weak performance during the holiday period.

Credit represented 64% of card spend at retail, compared to 35% for debit; but debit spending growth (+8.9%) outpaced credit spending growth (+4.1%).

At the category level:
-General Merchandise showed the highest growth in both spend (+13.5%) and transactions (+17.0%)

- Building Materials/DIY benefitted from a spike on Black Friday, with substantial increases in sales (+17.4%) and transactions (+8.7%)

- Furniture, Furnishings, Electronics, and Appliances had declines in spend (-1.9%) despite transactions growing (+6.2%)

- Clothing saw a 2.0% increase in total retail spend and a small increase (+1.1%) in transactions

- Sporting Goods, Hobby, etc. experienced a decline in total retail spend (-1.3%) but an increase in transactions (+4.9%), indicating more frequent, smaller purchases.

Small Business Retail

Fiserv Small Business Index® data, measuring consumer spend at small retailers across the U.S., showed that small business retail sales grew (+11.9%) for Thanksgiving Week 2024. This growth was due to increased foot traffic (transactions up +9.3%) and assisted by average ticket size (+2.6%).

Small business retail saw consistent lift across all major shopping days, including Black Friday (+8.6%), the Saturday after Thanksgiving (+9.0%) and Cyber Monday (+13.0%), each of which outpaced total retail sales growth.

At the category level:

-General Merchandise exhibited the highest growth in both sales (+20.8%) and transactions (+18.7%)

- Furniture, Furnishings, Electronics, and Appliances delivered sales growth (+7.9%) but a decline in transactions (-2.3%)

- Clothing stores saw an increase in retail sales (+8.6%) but a decrease in transactions (-2.0%)

- Building Materials/DIY performed exceptionally well throughout the week, with an increase in sales (+13.6%) and transactions (+10.8%)

- Sporting Goods, Hobby, etc. saw an increase in total retail sales (+9.2%) and an increase in transactions (+11.8%)

Download the Full Report

• 2024 Thanksgiving Holiday Insights